In this article we will tell you about this type of communication with the public, such as a seminar. This is necessary so that everyone who reads the information understands why seminars are held, how they are conducted and what is needed to conduct it. This type of interaction with the audience is very common lately. It is important to remember that in order to successfully conduct a seminar, everything matters: the place, the form, and the preparedness of the facilitator. Not every person can do this event. And now we’ll talk about all the information in more detail.
What is a seminar: meaning of the word
To begin with, we clarify that the word "seminar" came from the Latin term seminarium, which translates as "greenhouse", "nursery". Of course, our workshops have nothing to do with gardening. But, drawing conclusions even from the word itself, we can understand that a seminar is a type of communication with people that implies the presence of an audience, that is, spectators, and the one who leads the seminar.
It is important to know that during the seminar there is a discussion of a topic, an exchange of views, but all this happens only on a theoretical field. In order to conduct a seminar competently and effectively, you need to prepare for it carefully enough. The theme of the seminar is always known in advance, so not only the host, but also the participants can prepare for this event. Scientists have proved that seminar forms of classes were used in ancient Rome and Greece. Then, various issues were discussed in educational institutions, and the teacher was communicating with the students. In Soviet times, seminars were used in higher education institutions, where some disciplines required more thorough and in-depth study.
Types of Workshops
So, we already understood that the seminar is communication with the audience. What are the types of seminars in our time?
- A business seminar is held in the company, and its goal is to improve the professional level of employees.
- A scientific seminar is held for the exchange of experience and communication of people working in the same research direction.
- A training seminar is held for a detailed study of a topic.
- A webinar, or an online seminar, is conducted remotely, can have a different focus, both advisory and educational. A feature is that it is carried out not personally, but with the help of programs such as Skype, ooVoo, TrueConf and others.
Business and scientific seminars
Speaking about scientific seminars, it should be noted that they are theoretical in nature. During this workshop, scientists make presentations that they prepared in advance. And although the essence of the report is based on practical experience, at the seminar the participants only present the result of their observations and works, answer the questions of their colleagues and listen to criticism or praise.
A business seminar is something else. Unlike scientific seminars, such seminars are used not so much for the exchange of experience, but for training the personnel of a company or company in new working methods. Business seminars help to establish the right atmosphere in the company, improve the quality of employees, raise their professional level. Business seminars are both closed and open.
- A private seminar is held within the company only for employees with a specific goal.
- An open seminar is held for all comers, mainly for representatives of one profession.
In conditions of aggressive competition, seminars greatly help the management company to keep the skills and abilities of employees under control.
Training workshops
A training seminar means an in-depth study by students of a specific topic. For starters, preparations are underway for the seminar. Students are informed about the topic in advance so that they can find as much information as possible on it in different sources. The teacher also conducts training, he draws up a plan for the seminar, divides the topic into subtopics, thinks out methods and forms of communication with the audience. The purpose of this is that after the lesson students learn about the subject of discussion much more than they knew before.
The great advantage of this form of training is that people learn tolerance, the ability to accept other people's opinions at the seminar, and not just impose their own vision of the problem. The seminars also perfectly develop a culture of good communication and a person’s search ability.
Workshop or training?
Some confuse the concept of seminar and training. It is worth knowing that this is far from the same thing. What is the difference between a seminar and training, and which of them is better?
- A seminar is a theoretical lesson. It may include many reports, examples, discussions, but all this is just a theory. This is the main drawback of such events. After the seminar, the participants know a lot, but cannot put it into practice, since usually only theory is not enough. We also need practice.
- Training is a practice. The word is derived from the English Training, which means "training." The main task of the training is to put into practice the theoretical knowledge gained. The methods of work can be different: in groups, in pairs, independently, etc. The presenter in this case is not the main character, he only coordinates the actions of the participants.
Drawing a conclusion, we can confidently say that seminars are a rather useful form of work with any team. The main thing is to choose the right form for conducting such a lesson and do not forget to supplement the theory with practical exercises.